I met Mrs. Narui by chance, at the last Christmas Bazaar at Saint Maur International School on the 16th of November 2014. A small lady with a beautiful picture of an Iwate festival plastered on her back, she proudly held up calendars to sell to anyone interested. She was not loud and boisterous, but simply conspicuous enough to attract attention. I asked her if I could view a sample of one of the calendars, and she readily handed one to me, quickly explaining how she became involved in the Fukko Calendar Project. Mrs. Narui was a member of the Values Department at Sacred Heart International School, teaching world religions to students. She explained to me that after the Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011, she felt utterly hopeless.
“I can’t take human suffering easily. I am weak. When I see so much suffering, I fall into tears and can’t do anything at all! I could not shovel soil or debris and was at a complete loss as to what I could possibly do to help my fellow citizens. During one of my trips to northern Honshu, I came across an association called ‘Save Iwate’. They started printing calendars with pictures of various festivals representing the Tohoku region. I wanted to help them and offered to make an English version of their calendar containing explanations about the festivals, their origins and their significance to the local people. People should not think that because local festivals are being celebrated, everything is behind them. No, not at all! There is still so much left to do in terms of reconstruction. It will take many more years!”
She continued by explaining that although 12,000 copies of the Japanese calendar had been sold the first year immediately after the earthquake in 2012, only 8,000 copies have been sold in 2014, indicating an unfortunate shift in the interest of the public. In early 2014, she finally convinced the association to allow her to create an English version of their calendar and worked tirelessly over the summer to meticulously complete all the explanations in English. All the work done to produce the calendar is donated to the association. That includes the photography, as well as the printing. All proceeds go directly to reconstruction efforts. Mrs. Narui told me she was very proud to have already sold 200 copies of the calendar’s English version on her own.
“You know, in March 2011, the entire country shifted by this much!” Mrs. Narui exclaimed as she held up the length of her arm.
This is certainly true, but her heart moved even further and managed to reach so many people on the day of our Christmas Bazaar, as another 100 copies were sold on this day!
The Sanriku Fukko Calendar is part of the Ippan Shadan Houjin Save Iwate Project Tel: 019-601-6482 / 080-6006-9201 or email: calendar [at] saveiwate.jp
– Gilles Gaury
